allium 2015

[Jackie C]

I purchased this Allium earlier this year as paniculatum and I think it is the dwarf red form unless someone can tell me it is something else.

[Jackie C]

Allium litvinovii has just finished flowering in my garden, it is one of my favourites.

[Robert]

Allium litvinovii has just finished flowering in my garden, it is one of my favourites.

Jackie,

I agree, what a beautiful Allium!

I certainly enjoy its color. Is it easy-to-grow?

So far, I have not had much success with any of the Allium species in the bluish shades. There are some somewhat unhappy Allium beesianum trying to bloom with our 41 C California dry heat. It has since cooled to 33 C. It is still unhappy.

Thank you for sharing the photographs. Your Alliums are quite lovely!

[Jackie C]

Jackie,

I agree, what a beautiful Allium!

I certainly enjoy its color. Is it easy-to-grow?

So far, I have not had much success with any of the Allium species in the bluish shades. There are some somewhat unhappy Allium beesianum trying to bloom with our 41 C California dry heat. It has since cooled to 33 C. It is still unhappy.

Thank you for sharing the photographs. Your Alliums are quite lovely!

Hi Robert

This is the first year I have grown it. I bought 10 bulbs and put 3 in the ground and 7 in a pot. The 3 in the ground disappeared, I think they rotted off and the ones in the pot were fine. I don't think they like cold and wet. Some people have found they flower the first year, reappear the next but don't flower. I have had a dig around in the pot and each bulb has split into 3 identical size bulbs so next year I will have to see what happens. They may be alright for you as we have had some very hot weather earlier when they were flowering, I didn't water them and they were fine.

I have found the 'small blues', sikkimens, beesianum and cyaneum all need a bit of moisture and my cyaneum wasn't happy when it was very hot. If you like blue ones have you tried caeruleum or caesium? I have found those prefer it dry.

Here is another of my alliums that is flowering now, A. lenkoraniucum, each bulb as produced 3 flower heads and has been happy in pots and in the ground. The flower buds haven't opened yet I really like it but it is not showy like a lot of alliums.

[Mark Griffiths]

Robert, I may be wrong but I think the smaller blue ones are more alpine and don't particularly like the heat.

But there is A. caeruleum and A. ceasium that central asian species that might be better for you.

Hope you are safe from the fires - we have family in Lake County and are nervously following the news.

[Mark Griffiths]

for Robert, this is A.caeruleum

[Robert]

Jackie,

I very much appreciate all the information! 

I will look into giving A. caeruleum and A. caesium a try, and it appears A. litvinovii may be worth a try too.

As might be expected, I have good success with many of our California native Allium species. With other species, I have used the "shotgun" method, growing what ever I could get (avoiding the known thugs) and seeing what worked. The results have been mixed.

With your suggestion I can narrow my next efforts. Thank you.

[Robert]

for Robert, this is A.caeruleum

Mark,

The perfect photograph. I am definitely looking for an Allium in that Blue to Deep Purplish-blue colour range.

All your information is helpful. Thank you.

We are safe from any fires..... for the moment. The "Rocky" fire in Lake county is a big mess. If you have family in that area you are rightly concerned! The hills in that part of the Coastal Range are covered in a dense chaparral that burns with extreme heat. This fire is moving extremely quickly and is now moving erratically with the variable and gusty winds. I certainly hope that they, all that is theirs, remain safe. The situation is very dangerous right now.

[Mark Griffiths]

Robert, they are in Kelseyville, west of the fires and we are hoping the fire doesn't head in that direction.

I expect A.caeruleum is reasonably easy to get in the US - I bought mine dry from a garden centre - sort of equivalent to your home depot. I kept them in a pot and after flowering them outside I've brought them in because I think they like a warm and dry rest - it had been very wet here. Hopefully they will be as good next year.

[Robert]

Robert, they are in Kelseyville, west of the fires and we are hoping the fire doesn't head in that direction.

I expect A.caeruleum is reasonably easy to get in the US - I bought mine dry from a garden centre - sort of equivalent to your home depot. I kept them in a pot and after flowering them outside I've brought them in because I think they like a warm and dry rest - it had been very wet here. Hopefully they will be as good next year.

Mark,

Your family members in Kelseyville are fairly safe. The Rocky fire is east of Clear Lake. At this time the winds are more likely to drive the fire to the southeast or to the south, however this is even uncertain. Also, the fire has not burned all the fuel completely, so back-burning is a possibility.

I am glad to hear that Allium caeruleum might be somewhat easy to find here in the U.S.A. Giving them a warm, dry rest will be easy here in California.

[Jackie C]

I was wondering if someone could help me identify this allium. I purchased it as A. stracheyi but I don't think it is. I know if you look at various sites selling it they have a plant that looks like mine. But I have a copy of the book Allium and Milula in the central and eastern Himalaya by William T Stearm and it describes A. stracheyi as follows ' Tepals purple, pink or reddish with a deeper red mid nerve: Leaves not more than 3mm broad' so it can't be that! It looks a bit like A. obliquum but isn't. It has a different leaf shape, narrower and fatter and only sheaths the lower 8th. It flowers later than A. oliquum and the tepals are more open. I did consider A.hookeri car muliense but again the leaf isn't right. Anybody got any other ideas?

[Rimmer de Vries]

I grew this white allium from seed labeled as Allium sikkimense.  but a visitor said it was not sikkimense.
the tepals are 6-7mm long and the stamens do not protrude past the tepals as the description for A. sikkimense.

perhaps a short tepal A. beesianum white form?

Can anyone confirm the identity?

[Rimmer de Vries]

here is another blue allium about to bloom.
seed came as Allium narcissiflorum, obviously not.
the leaves are flat like Allium narcissiflorum
The stamens extend past the tepals like Allium cyaneum but the leaves are wrong.

any ideas? 
A. foresteri?

[Rimmer de Vries]

This tiny blue allium is what is locally sold as Allium beesianum but the stamens extend beyond the tepals so it is not beesianum

about 6" tall, thread leaves, blooms now in early August.

any ideas?
 Allium cyaneum?

[TheOnionMan]

6" tall blue one with exserted stamens is Allium cyaneum.

No idea on the budded one, doesn't appear that it will be either beesianum or forrestii. Show us both leaves and flowers when the flowers open.
[Edit: I see that you uploaded new photos since original post, showing flowers open and some pale blue color, so now to try to determine what it can be.]

On the white one labeled as "sikkemense" (species spelling is sikkimense), can't see any foliage, too dark. can you get a photo of the foliage and whole plant, to help figure out what its ID might be.